With close to 130,000 attendees waiting in lines over the 5-day SDCC to get a sneak peek at a "hot" genre show, snag a newly released collectible or meet up with a favorite actor, it's rare to find the convention center free of crowds. However, I got up early several days so I could maneuver my way through the aisles before the official rush of badge holders.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

San Diego Comic-Con, the largest comics-cartoon convention in North America, is a busy, hectic 5 days for artists so when Terry and Robyn Moore suggested lunch on Wednesday before the 6-9 p.m. VIP night, Doug and I thought it would be a great time to visit with the comic book writer/artist of Echo, Strangers in Paradise and Rachel Rising.

Doug and I met Terry several years ago at SDCC and more recently talked with him briefly at conventions in Seattle and Dallas, but our quiet and leisurely lunch at the Omni Hotel gave us time to chat about art, traveling, deadlines, meeting fans and books, like Terry's How To Draw and Doug's The Art of Doug Sneyd.

Wednesday around 10 a.m. Doug and I left our hotel, the Hilton Gaslamp across the street from the convention center, to pick up our badges and set up his banner in the Big Wow Art booth, where he's exhibited since 2007.

The entire city gears up to host the annual 5-day SDCC so we weren't at all surprised to see a lot of activity right outside the hotel entrance.

After getting our badges, Doug went down to the booth; I decided to take a quick
walk through the convention center main isle and check out some of the booths. There was a lot of last-minute work to be done as the doors would open in about 6 hours to welcome VIP ticket holders.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Doug and I enjoyed talking with Steve (from Sunrise, Florida) during the 4-day Florida SuperCon in Miami; as a fan of Doug's work, he purchased the preliminary color rough for the Playboy cartoon published September 1997, p. 115, and also on p. 68 in The Art of Doug Sneyd, which was published by Dark Horse Books and nominated in 2012 for an Eisner Award in the Best Humor Publication category.

Christie and Brent (from Miami) commissioned an 11 x 17 watercolor portrait of Christie; Doug does 10 x 14 and 11 x 17 pencil portrait sketches at comics-cartoon conventions. His watercolor commissions are done in his studio, using Arches of France cold press art board and Dr. Ph. Martin's aniline dyes, which he also uses for his Playboy originals.

Paulo purchased a copy of The Art of Doug Sneyd and also had him personalize the 248-page hardcover book with a classic Sneyd bunny pencil sketch.

Doug and I always enjoy talking with fans and artists at comics-cartoon conventions.

While in Miami we had a great Saturday evening dinner with: (from Doug's left) Paolo Rivera-artist and painter on The Amazing Spider Man, Daredevil, Wolverine, etc.; Joe Rivera, known for his recent run inking Daredevil for Marvel Comics over his son Paolo Rivera's pencils; close friend Will, who collects artwork from both Doug and Nick Cardy; friends of Nick Cardy; Nick Cardy, a Guest of Honor at Florida Supercon.

In addition to this new collection, Doug will be selling limited edition prints, sketchbooks and Playboy cartoon preliminary development pencil and color roughs. Attendees can also purchase copies of The Art of Doug Sneyd and Unpublished Sneyd, which features Doug's 100 favorite Playboy gag rough "rejects." Both books are in a second printing.

He will also be doing commissions and 10 x 14 and 11 x 17 pencil portrait sketches during the 3-day Cincinnati event.

Doug and I met Christine (from Naples, Florida) at MegaCon in Orlando this past March; at the 4-day Florida SuperCon, she bought the preliminary color rough for Doug's Playboy cartoon published in the June 2004, p. 132, issue.

Florida SuperCon Guests - Rags Morales stopped by to talk with Doug during the 4-day convention. Rags is known for his work on a number of DC Comics, including Identity Crisis and Batman Confidential.

A classic Sneyd bunny profile is a great way to personalize copies of The Art of Doug Sneyd, published by Dark Horse Books. The 248-page hardcover book, featuring 270 of Doug's 450+ Playboy cartoons, was a 2012 Eisner Award nominee in the Best Humor Publication category.

If you have a copy of The Art of Doug Sneyd and plan to attend the September 13-15 Cincinnati Comic Expo, bring the book to the convention and Doug will be happy to sign it for free. (Commissioned sketches are extra.)

Doug and I enjoyed talking with David while Doug was personalizing The Art of Doug Sneyd.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Bio

Doug has been a cartoonist for Playboy magazine since 1964.
For nearly 20 years, starting in the mid-60's, his "Doug Sneyd" and "Scoops" news cartoons appeared daily in newspapers across North America. Sneyd's talent has also led him into cinema: in 1993, he wrote, produced and directed "Black-eyed Susan," an educational movie-drama about spousal abuse, for the Ontario government. He was a founding member of the Canadian Society of Book Illustrators and has been a member of the National Cartoonists' Society and the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. Thirty of his full-page color Playboy cartoons are among the 235 Sneyd works included in the National Archives of Canada in Ottawa.
Sneyd was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, but spent much of his professional career in Toronto. In 1969 he moved his family north to Orillia made famous as the mythical "Mariposa" by humorist Stephen Leacock. He works on the third floor of his home-studio overlooking beautiful Lake Couchiching and spends his winters on the Gulf Coast in Orange Beach, Alabama.